Nanotechnology Article to Be Published in International Journal

Senior Research Chemist Harold D. Banks, Ph.D., reviews his article that was accepted for publication in Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry.

An article written by Harold D. Banks, Ph.D., senior research chemist at the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, was accepted for publication by Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, an international journal published in the U.K. by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The article, “Substituent Effects on the Rate of Formation of Azomethine Ylides,” studies the effects of chemical groups attached to an aziridine on the rate of formation of azomethine ylides (AMY). AMYs are species having partial positive charge on the ring nitrogen and negative charge dispersed over the carbon atoms immediately attached.

AMYs react readily with double and triple bonds, notably with graphene, an exciting nanomaterial that has recently become available in Nobel Prize-winning work. Banks’ paper describes a sophisticated computational search and discovery of an extremely reactive aziridine that is predicted to react at room temperature, thus making it useful for the study of biological and sensitive chemical systems.

When this reaction occurs with nanomaterials so as to introduce the necessarily sensitive groups required for detection, it may lead to new approaches for detection of biological and chemical threat agents, ultimately lightening the load for warfighters.

“All this has to do with nanotechnology, which has to do with reducing large things to about one-thousandth their original size,” said Banks. “Nanotechnology will eventually allow us to miniaturize our detection devices to minimize the burden on our soldiers. This paper describes how we can attach detection materials, electronic devices, and filtration devices (there are several potential spinoffs) to nanoparticles.”

Banks, a 25-year ECBC employee, specializes in computational chemistry, which involves the use of equations to predict such characteristics as reactions, stability and dimensions of molecules. “Computational chemists use computers to predict chemistry,” Banks said, “with the goal of making things safer for laboratory scientists.”

Click here to read the article http://xlink.rsc.org/?doi=C1OB05588G